One Million Yen Girl

Suzuko drops out of university, serves a short prison term over a minor incident, and cannot bear living with her family afterwards. She makes a plan: work somewhere until she has saved a million yen, then move to another town without telling anyone. She does it again and again. Yuki Tanada wrote and directed. Yu Aoi plays Suzuko. The structure is that loop: a beach, a mountain village, a peach orchard. She finds work everywhere, gets to know people, and leaves just as a bond is about to form. The idea is escape becoming a method: Suzuko does not refuse to belong somewhere, she just does not want to see what happens if she stays. The bullying her younger brother faces at school is the second thread, and the two join at the end. Yu Aoi won many awards in Japan for the role. The tone is light and the subject is not; the film moves along making you smile and turns heavy at the close. Who it is for: viewers who like calm Japanese youth drama. Who it is not for: anyone looking for plot; the film repeats itself on purpose.